


dead girl walking

by makeashadow_ao3



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Bonkai Anthology 2019, Bonkai Anthology 2019-Urban Legends, Bonkai Anthology 2K19, F/M, Heathers References, Urban Legends, bloated ass fic, hook man, it's technically historical fiction even if it's the 80s, not beremy friendly, the heathers au i always wanted to write
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-05
Updated: 2019-03-05
Packaged: 2019-11-12 12:27:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18010898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/makeashadow_ao3/pseuds/makeashadow_ao3
Summary: “By Monday, everyone will know I’ve been excommunicated from the Church of Petrova.” It's like Bonnie, Katerina, Elena, and Caroline work together and their job is being popular and shit.For the Bonkai Anthology 2k19 - Urban Legends theme. Loosely based on the hook-man myth.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> my contribution to the bonkai anthology 2k19. theme: urban legends. this is a AH/AU with a heathers-esque twist. i can't do it nearly as good as thefudge, but i gave it a good ol' college try. trigger warning: just a fair warning, there is a smattering of character violence and allusions to eating disorders-but nothing too explicit on the latter. story takes place in 1988, bonnie's 18 and kai's 19. names are slightly different, but that'll be explained in the fic.

dead girl walking

i/ii

 

Ashes float out the open window like falling snow. Grey glitter.

The house shakes with the party downstairs while Bonnie is on the back of the toilet, her elbow propped on the windowsill. Katerina takes a deep sniff, sucking up the white powder like a hoover, then gasps at herself in the big mirror. Whatever she sees wasn’t there moments before and she likes it, teasing her fluffy brown hair with skinny fingers.

“That can’t be good for you.”

The chocolate eyed reflection meets the reproachful gaze of the other girl in the mirror, eyes the cigarette, and then swivels to look at the real Bonnie, who’s being a bit of a hypocrite right now. “Yeah? Which DARE officer told ya that?”

The younger girl bites back a retort only because she can’t think of one quickly enough. “Why am I here?” That conjures up the right amount of moodiness. And, to that, her friend’s smile transforms into a pout as she nears and clutches Bonnie’s chin. She gives it a little shake.

“Because you’re my favorite.”

“You have El.”

She grimaces, her fingers slip, and her eyes dramatically roll to the ceiling. “Just because she looks like me doesn't mean I have to like her.”

“Bonnie!” A fist bangs against the other side of the bathroom door. “Pizza’s here!”

“Speak of the devil…”

Bonnie pinches the end of the cigarette then flicks it out the open window, hops down to her feet, and walks through the mist of perfume Katerina preemptively sprays for her. The older Petrova twin mumbles something about joining the party in a minute, so Bonnie leaves her to primp and preen and make kissy faces at the mirror.

“Elena,” she greets the spitting image of the girl she just left, giving her a salute, then makes her way downstairs to the front door. Tyler Lockwood stands sentry at the front door staring down the guy holding a stack of cardboard boxes. “Move it or lose it, Ty.”

When he’s done sizing up the delivery guy, her tan friend departs and Bonnie retrieves a fifty dollar bill from one of her white tube socks. “Sorry ‘bout that,” she murmurs.

Cool slate eyes regard her as she gives him the money, tells him to keep the change, and hands the boxes off to a “Matty” who is nearby and not too plastered to help.

“This isn’t your house,” he says with none of the customary warmth.

The Petrova house is bigger than her own by two stories, a pool, and Aunt Jenna’s guest house, and the only other home in her friend group that could accommodate this amount of people. The Lockwood house, _the mayor’s mansion_ , overflowing with underage drinkers would’ve been a dead giveaway. But of course _he_ recognizes her. He regularly delivers to the “study group” she hosts at her house every Friday night.

She blushes.“Uh, no.”

“They’re still making you pay, though.” His fist tightens around the crumpled bill.

“Oh.” Her attention goes to her feet, toes in her high top sneakers going pigeon-toed before flexing out into first position like she learned all those years ago in ballet class. “I don’t mind.”

“You should.”

His glare is harsh before he turns and heads to the idling Jeep parked at the curb. Halfway down the walkway, something sails through the air from the upstairs window and splatters the cobblestone he just stepped over. His head snaps up and Bonnie steps out the front door, both looking to see who spat at him. Katerina wags her tongue at him and grins as he shuffles along.

“Kat!” Bonnie stomps, her eyes livid.

“What, he’s just the pizza boy.”

“Exactly! He’s just the pizza boy _who could put all kinds of junk in our food the next time we order._ Go pick on someone else!” Her chastised friend rolls her eyes and dips back inside. Bonnie glances over her shoulder to catch the guy squint at her before spinning the steering wheel and pulling away from the curb.

 

“Morning, baby,” a husky voice greets. Bonnie strides past the woman leaning against the kitchen sink and heads straight for the steaming coffee pot. Abby watches her from over the rim of a mug of black tea. “Would you like some toast with that motor oil?”

“No, thanks.”

It’s a fair joke, but Bonnie doesn’t find a lot of humor in her mother these days. She’s either painfully oblivious when she should be involved or unjustifiably interested when all Bonnie wants her to do is butt out. “Where’s Dad?”

“Gone for work already. It’s like he leaves earlier and earlier but stays later and later these days.”

Bonnie blinks slowly to keep herself from rolling her eyes. Abby may be clueless, but her parents haven’t been discreet about their marital issues. Her father Rudy for some reason forgave Abby’s chronic infidelity. Bonnie won’t do the same. The Hopkins house has been tense for a long time, so she can’t fault her father for his absence. She’ll be fleeing to college in a handful of months herself.

“I’ve got study group again this Friday.”

“Of course. We’ll leave you some cash for pizza.” Her parents spend their weekends away. They say they’re business trips. Bonnie thinks they’re either doing couples retreats to rebuild their marriage, or maybe they’re both off screwing other people.

The quiet between them grows tenuous, so Bonnie downs the last of her coffee and leaves her empty mug in the sink.

“How are things going with Jeremy?”

“They’re going. I gotta motor.” She hooks her backpack over her shoulder and heads for the door. Caroline won’t mind if Bonnie waits outside.

A thick fog clouds her vision. She can’t even see to the mailbox until she’s halfway to the edge of the yard. The windchime on the porch tinkers in the light breeze and Bonnie tenses at the ominous noise. A yellow Ford mustang pulls to the curb shortly, her friend grinning behind the wheel. “How creepy is this fog?”

Static feeds bits of pop hits and pieces of snarky morning disc jockeys as the radio crackles in and out. From the passenger seat, Bonnie switches to AM. The signal isn’t any better so she reaches to shut the whole thing off when an alarm blares from it.

“ _This is a message from the Emergency Broadcast System. This is not a test. Citizens in Charlottesville and surrounding counties, please be advised. A convicted felon has escaped police custody in transit between Buckingham Correctional Center outside of Dillwyn, Virginia and_ [static] _.”_

In the side mirror, a deer darts out the treeline and lopes across the road. Bonnie whips around, but it’s gone into the fog.

 _“Law enforcement warn citizens to keep their eyes out for Joshua Parker, serving a life sentence for the_ 1978 _murder of his daughter Josette_ [static] _, Oregon. If you come across this man, consider him armed and dangerous. There is a mandatory curfew of ten pm to five am until Parker’s capture. The counties on alert are as followed…_ ”

“God, how morbid.” Caroline goes to turn off the radio, but Bonnie waves her hand away and spins the volume dial. The announcer continues down his list and sure enough their county is included. Cringing, the blonde grips the steering wheel tightly as she pulls into her parking spot and shuts off the engine.

_“We repeat. This is not a test. Use extreme caution when interacting with strangers. Joshua Parker is a white male aged forty-two standing at six foot and can be identified by his missing left hand. For more information—”_

Knuckles rap at the passenger window. Elena stands there with an impatient look on her face. The impatience isn’t hers so much as it is her sister urging her to tell Bonnie to hurry the hell up. Casting her eyes across the parking lot, the fog has lifted completely. Students mill around the parking lot and the lawn of the school. In her friend’s distraction, Caroline shuts off the radio and pulls her keys from the ignition.

 

In between classes, Bonnie rests against the cool metal of the row of lockers and nods empathetically as she listens. “I can’t talk to her the way you do,” the cheerleader laments, her usually sunny tone a grumble. Her ponytail swings as she slams her locker shut.

“She doesn’t bite, Care.”

To that, the blonde glares down at the shorter girl. “You and I both know I have the scar on my ankle to disprove _that._ ”

As if summoned, Katerina appears on the other side of Caroline, who nearly jumps out of her red and black polyester pleated skirt. Elena stops beside her, a timid smile on her lips. Though they look alike in the face, in height, and in body shape, the Petrova twins couldn’t be more different.

Their mother Isobel was a world-class gymnast, an Olympic hopeful, but with the Cold War and the illegitimate birth of twin girls, the Bulgarian immigrant saw her popularity wane. As camouflage, she married an American man with an average sounding name and tucked herself and her daughters in the small southern town. Those who live in Mystic Falls love the notoriety of such a decorated athlete, the twins as close to royalty as anyone can touch.

Spoiled rotten, the twins walk through Mystic Falls High School unmatched. Sure, there are _commie bitch_ whispers here and _chernobyl twins_ taunts there, but beyond that they’re treasured. Queen bee Katerina and Elena, whose personality is the photo negative of her sister’s, go everywhere together and rule with a swift iron fist. Bonnie’s the only one who knows the sisters can’t stand each other so much that Elena moved out of the main house and stays in the pool house with Jenna.

“Problem, Care-Bear?” Katerina remarks, having eavesdropped on the gossiping girls. “I really don’t bite...often.”

Caroline adjusts the strap of her backpack. “No problem. Just that I can’t sleep over Saturday night.”

“Why not?” Her curt tone is enough to silence anyone even remotely intimidated by her, and she gets her desired reaction as the blonde wilts.

“Because…”

Bonnie cuts in. “Because her dad is coming to town, your highness. Anything else?”

Elena’s doe eyes widen at the gall but she says nothing. She doesn’t have half her friend’s confidence when it comes to standing up to her sister. The most she’s done is chop her hair off at her shoulders to distinguish herself from Katerina’s flowing curls. The older twin seethed when she found out, only because she didn’t get to give her unsolicited input first. Eventually, she accepted it, said “ _Now I really am the cute one._ ”

Katerina’s gaze slides to Bonnie. There’s a crinkling at the corner of her eyes which smooth out almost immediately before she airily glances back at Caroline. “Fine. We can do without a weekend of you using my toilet as a pillow. Bonnie—”

“I’m out, too. You know Jeremy’s taking me to the drive-in to see Friday the Thirteenth. _Part Seven_.”

“I already heard about it. The killer is actually her brother,” she scowls.

If her pettiness wasn’t so damn irritating, it’d be amusing. She can’t even be bothered to spoil the right movie in the series. “Your cousin is the one who likes horror movies so much. Ruin it for him next time.” With that, she pulls Caroline down the hallway to Calculus.

 

“Did you like the movie?”

The car idles at the curb and her skin is itching to get out and run inside. It should be the other way, shouldn’t it? She shouldn’t want to leave this small pocket of the universe carved out just for her and him. Katerina has Damon, Elena has Stefan, Caroline has Tyler, and Matt...is like a brother. Jeremy is probably the best she can do.

She gives him a tight smile. His face crumples. “Ugh, you hated it!”

“I didn’t _hate_ it. I just don’t see the point in movies...three through seven.”

“You could just tell me you don’t like going to the movies.”

“No! I like our dates and it gets me away from Kat and El,” she says conspiratorially. “If I have to sit through a cheesy, slasher flick, I’ll take it.”

He leans forward to give her an eager kiss which she meets with tight lips. In the months they’ve been dating, they haven’t done anything more than hold hands and makeout. Not that Bonnie’s a prude like she’s sure the Gilbert boy thinks. She was pretty much goaded by the terror twins into dating the all-American golden boy.

He pulls back, his expression a mix of disappointment and simmering adoration. “Next time you get to pick the movie.”

“Mm, we can stay in and watch St. Elmo’s Fire.” The pained smile tells her exactly how much he’d enjoy watching yet another Hughesian film. She gives him a tender kiss on the side of his mouth and pushes the door open.

Stepping out of the car, she notices something refracting light from the lamppost and snatches it off the door handle. She tucks it behind her back and closes the door. Waving her fingers at Jeremy, she remains rooted to the curb as he drives away.

It’s heavy is what it is, well, heavier than she expects. It’s a silver hook the size of her hand if she spreads her fingers out really wide. She’d mistake it for a missing part of a pirate halloween costume if not for the weight. This is the real deal...only it’s not. Bonnie knows for a fact that hook prosthetics for amputees are more functional than this thing. They’re curved with a second sliver of metal and a lever so it can clamp and grab.

This is a sickle.

Marveling at the object, she walks down the hallway to her room and lays back on her pillows. Frowning, she balances the hook in one palm and then the other. If this really is someone’s prosthetic it has to be old, but the silver is untarnished which means someone regularly cleaned it. This would be useless, though. It’s just a piece of metal, no attachment. No cap or buckles.

The girls would laugh their heads off if she told them about it. Katerina loves to disprove anything that might make someone feel _special._  She still finds ways to punish Caroline for not quitting the cheerleading squad. Elena would just follow up her sister. While Caroline is the daughter of the sheriff, she doesn’t have the constitution for the “morbid”.

Bonnie’s a fantastic secret keeper. She’s got dirt on everyone at school for whenever the Petrovas want to instigate drama, but keeping a secret from her friends feels traitorous. Still, a heat runs up her back and warms her cheeks at having something that’s all hers. She tucks the hook where she knows her mom won’t find it, and then heads to the bathroom to shower.

 

Approaching the counter, she pops a small jawbreaker in her mouth and taps the metal bell. The closest employee turns away from a rack to greet the customer, _Welcome to Gilbert’s Pizzeria_ on the tip of his tongue. His gaze lingers before he speaks. “You’re carrying out.”

“I am. Shocked?”

“Electrified,” he winks and edges closer. Money exchanges hands as he rings her up. “Your order’s still in the oven.”

Bonnie’s eyes dart away and down to the laminated menu her fingers are splayed across. “I wanted to come in and personally apologize for my friend’s behavior the other week. There’s no excuse, but I’m sorry.”

“I don’t want your apology,” he curtly responds, which makes her quickly glance up. “ _You_ didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Still. She’s a bitch only because she doesn’t know how not to be.”

“Sounds like you could use new friends.”

“Can I get that with, like, olives? But only on one side.” She shakes her head at her own corny joke. “I’m Bonnie. Hopkins.”

“I know. Kai Laughlin.”

“Kai…” The back of her throat cradles the hard consonant as she latches onto the familiar name. “Do you know the Laughlin twins?”

“Liv and Luke are my younger siblings.”

Her jaw drops open giving him a glimpse of blue hard candy. “No way! Your sister is such a bitch. How do you stand it?”

“By spending most of my time here.”

A horn blares from outside and Bonnie doesn’t bother turning around. Grinning at Kai, she holds her middle finger up above her shoulder so the person behind the wheel can see it clearly. She’s rewarded with two short honks and another long blare.

“Pretty sure that’s morse code for you’re taking too long.”

“She can wait.”

His tongue darts out to swipe at his bottom lip. “Lemme see if I can guess. Friends since diapers? Around middle school you realize you’re all very different people but you think maybe you’ll help each other grow to be _better_.”

Grey eyes rove over her with clinical precision making Bonnie feel naked as his deduction exposes her inner truth. “By the time high school rolls around, you find that you actually hate them but it’s too late to break things off, so you tell yourself you’ll go away to college somewhere far from here and away from them, and that’ll be when life really begins.  
  
“Am I warm?”  
  
“You’re on the sun.”

“Did I miss anything?”

She blows out a gust of air, a sugary scent wafting over to Kai. “ _Well_...I actually like Caroline. Although, I’m pretty sure she stole my teddy bear when we were little.”

“That monster.”

“Hey, uh,” She bites her lip, nervous about what she’s going to say but presses on regardless. “Have you heard about that guy who escaped from jail? The one who murdered his daughter?”

His expression grows wary, folding his arms across his chest. Leans muscles flex under his red polo. “Vaguely.”

“Well, I did some research and turns out he’s from _here_. He grew up in Mystic Falls way back when. He lost his hand in some accident and would wear this, like, pirate’s hook? The cops think he used that to kill the girl Josette, but they never found it at the crime scene.”

“Really?”

“Uh-huh.” She nods emphatically.

Hours were spent hunched over a microform at the library pouring over a decade’s old newspaper for information on Joshua Parker. The crime took place in Portland but because he was from Mystic Falls, the paper covered the arrest to the trial and his conviction like he was a local celebrity. The details of the crime were grisly and photographs released to the public grainy, but information about his personal life were scant. Very little was known about Josette Parker because she was a minor when she was killed, only nine years old. But according to the latest news reports, he appealed to get transferred to Virginia. His confession and guilty plea kept him off death row, but with a life sentence he wanted to be at home for the end, he’d said.

“You got a thing for killers, Bonnie?”

“No, I was just curious. I, uh…” She gestures for him to come close and he does, leaning over the counter. She, too, leans so her lips are close to his ear. “I think I found his hook.”

His head cranes ever so slightly to look at the girl with plush lips painted bubble pink. A light, sweet fragrance fills his nose and he can’t tell if it’s her lipgloss or the candy she rolls around on her tongue. “Why are you telling me this?”

Her emerald stare tracks up his jaw, cheekbones, and sharp nose before meeting his eyes. “There’s a killer on the loose. And you drive around all night delivering pizzas. Just...ya know, be careful.”

She pulls back and tugs at one of the sleeves on her navy blazer. He follows suit, straightening to his full height. “You think you found a murder weapon and you’re worried about _me_?”

Her tongue pushes the candy into her cheek like she wants to say more. “Carry-out order for Hopkins?” The guy behind Kai turns around with a stack of boxes.

Before he can say anything, the guy is following her out to the car. She sends Kai a quick smile before dropping into the passenger seat and setting into an argument with her brunette friend. Their eyes briefly meet again as the convertible peels out of the parking lot and down the street.

 

There’s a knock at the door and her breath catches in her throat. Mystic Falls is such a small town, it’s almost silly to worry about crime. Beyond date rape and the very occasional car accident, the town is practically storybook. Still, she tightens the belt of her robe around her waist. She leaves the lights off as she nears the front door. It could be one of her friends from study group thinking they left something behind, but depending on who it is she can pretend she’s not home. She spends more time between the Petrova and Forbes houses than at her own.

She squints through the peephole and gasps at the visitor. Quickly unlocking the door, she opens it and flips on the porch light. “Kai, hey.”

He was here earlier in the evening with pizza in hand and his red polo, and yet here he is again in loose jeans and a black band t-shirt. A skeleton in a suit kneels on the ground in front of a headstone with the name Megadeth across the top. It’s not a band she’s heard of but her tastes are often dictated by others. “What are you doing here?”

“I want to see it.”

“See what?”

He holds up a long index finger and bends it. “The hook.”

She crosses her arms and leans against the doorframe. “I didn’t say I have it, just that I found it.”

“Where?”

“In the woods?”

“You were just frolicking through the woods and happened on a bloody metal hook?”

It’s a horrible lie and she knows it, but honestly she doesn’t know why she even told him about it. “The murder happened, like, ten years ago. It wouldn’t have been bloody.” She pouts then huffs. “Okay, fine. Come in.”

Shutting the door behind them, she locks it and turns. The dark makes her house feel foreign and he _is_ a stranger. “It’s in my room,” she says softly then clears her throat.

He ducks his head until she’s comfortable enough to look up at him. “Do you want to go get it?” he trails off.

The question hangs in the air. It’s late, her parents aren’t home, and she’s alone in her house with a guy she doesn’t know who is not her boyfriend. He’s also older, though not by much. He’s got a year on her in age but graduated a year early. She can’t find an exact memory of him as a senior when she was a sophomore, but it makes him smarter and much more mature than Jeremy, who’s only a junior.

“Come on.” His footsteps echo off the hardwood floor down the hallway to her room. She doesn’t turn on the light in there nor does he reach for the switch on the wall. If he did, he’d find floral, lilac wallpaper, clean laundry heaped onto a sitting chair because she’s been too lazy to fold them away or hang them up, and old pom-poms gathering dust on her dresser. An relic from when Katerina made her quit the cheerleading squad. In the dark, things are murky lumps of gray.

Her mouth gone dry, she swallows and goes over to the pom-poms. Underneath she hid the hook, which she holds to her chest before turning around, revealing the artifact to Kai and passing it over. He holds it with both hands and measures its weight, just as she’d done. Then, he hums and swings the hook around his finger with an expert ease. “Why did you tell me about this again?”

“I didn’t know who else I could tell. I mean, it’s crazy, right?”

“Just wacky.”

“I should be worried, shouldn’t I?” Her anxiety ticks up at his unwavering calm. “I mean, I found it on my boyfriend’s car. It was hanging off _my_ door handle. It’s a sign. He could be coming after me.”

“He’s not,” he says breezily like he’s certain.

“How do you know?”

“Because he’s my father.” He pauses for effect, spinning to face her. Her lack of a reaction is a little disappointing, so he presses on. “He snapped and killed my twin sister Jo. The police helped my mom change our last names and move us all here to be closer to our grandparents.”

She frowns. “I can’t tell if you’re kidding.”

“Why would I kid?”

“Wh-what… Kai, that’s insanity!”

“Actually, I’d call it irony. I mean, who knew the old man had it in him? Prison break? That’s bold.” He spins the hook again and it catches her eye. It’s as if it’s an idle habit of his.

“You kept it. All this time? Cleaned it?” He nods to each question. “Were you expecting him to come back?”

“Oh, I’m counting on it.” His thick brows go up in earnest. Bonnie’s frown only deepens.

“Then why’d you leave it on my door for me to find?”

He shrugs. “Kind of wanted to see what would happen. You don’t scare easy, Bonnie. I like that about you.”

With the hook clutched in a fist, he approaches her and grasps the tails of her belt with his other hand, slowly loosening the knots and easing the soft lapels open. Her pajamas are modest, a two-piece set with long pants and long sleeves, but she blushes as he undresses her with his dark eyes just as he’d done a week ago at the pizzeria.

A shiver runs down her spine at the way he towers over her. She’s pretty short, barely clears five feet. Even now in her fuzzy bunny slippers and him in his combat boots, she has to crane her neck to maintain eye contact. It’s like her with the twins, and maybe Bonnie likes that. Stepping into a ring with someone who, by the looks of it, could stomp her in the mud.

He’s right. She doesn’t scare easy, and fear isn’t the feeling coursing through her right now. “Kai…”

“I’m not going to touch you. You have a boyfriend after all.” His smirk is slicing, mocking.

He lifts the hook in the space between them and taps the cold metal to the tip of her nose. The metal then trails its way down her cheek before he places it under her jaw and tips her chin up. “I am going to need this back, though.”

 

The caf is in an uproar. Student council unveiled the theme of the upcoming junior-senior prom: a Night in Paris.

_Tres cliché._

_Why is it always Paris? Why can’t it be a Night in Africa?_

_Africa’s a continent, you fucking dimwit._

Caroline’s on the planning committee and Paris was her suggestion that everyone else voted for, but her ego’s bruised listening to the naysayers. “I thought people liked French stuff. Berets, the Eiffel Tower, the language...”

“French fries…” Bonnie jokes. The other girls aren’t amused.

Even though it’s her last year, she’s ambivalent about the dance. She expects Jeremy will ask to which she’ll say yes, and then she’ll spend more of the night on a Petrova’s arm instead of with the Gilbert. She’d pass...if a little birdy hadn’t told her someone snuck her name on the list for prom queen—against Katerina, Caroline, and Olivia Laughlin, who is definitely the gag nomination.

Her gaze lingers on the curly blonde sneaking in through the back door with a brown paper bag tucked under her army green jacket. She notices Bonnie’s attention and raises her arm like she means to wave, but then brings her other arm down forcibly into the crook of her elbow.

Caroline notices the crude gesture seemingly directed at Bonnie and scowls. “Why are you staring at Liv?”

“Laughlin?” Katerina questions, her and Elena’s heads turning in tandem. The exacerbated senior now frowns at all four girls before holding up both her middle fingers. “Whatta cunt.”

“I wasn’t staring, I was just…” She pushes string beans to the other side of the tray with her fork. “Doesn’t matter.”

“I can’t believe someone actually nominated her,” Elena remarks.

“Must be the tits. What else does she have going for her?”

“Oh, and the council passed a new rule.” The Forbes girl continues, “No non-student dates over the age of…” Her eyes dart to Katerina. “Twenty-one.”

As expected, she glares across the table. “Why’s that?”

“People think it’s weird having adults who aren’t teachers and chaperones there. Our youngest senior is sixteen and they’d be mingling with a twenty-four year old.”

“Damon doesn’t mingle.”

“He wasn’t picky about who he boogied with at the Sadie Hawkins dance…” Bonnie says in a sing-song voice.

“The whole council voted. Majority rules.”

Katerina stabs her roll with her butter knife. “Fine. Then Bonnie will be my date.”

She immediately scoffs. “I’m going with Jeremy.”

“Has he asked you yet?”

“...no.”

“Ya snooze, ya lose,” she triumphantly remarks.

Toward the end of the lunch period, Caroline excuses herself. She gets Katerina’s knowing eye roll, and Bonnie jumps up to accompany her to the girls’ restroom and stand guard at the door. It’s no a secret, Caroline’s habit, but Bonnie does think a person’s vices should be met with grace and empathy. She can help make sure the girl is granted that much.

Picking at her cuticles and really wishing she could sneak a cigarette, Bonnie looks up at the sound of steel toed boots slapping against the linoleum. A twin stops in front of her, an ironic halo of bouncing curls framing a pinched face. Not one piece of her outfit hasn’t been touched by bleach or a pair of scissors. “What’s your deal, Hopkins?”

“Nothing… Parker.”

The tall blonde slams her fist into the wall beside Bonnie’s head. The smaller girl flinches but maintains eye contact. Liv sneers. “What’d you call me?”

“Your name? Your brother told me.”

“Luke would never.”

“Your _other_ brother.”

She never put two and two together, but Liv purposefully made it difficult. All those times she snuck into a Petrova party or grudgingly tagged along with Luke to study group, she never acknowledged the delivery guy. She’s never even tossed in her pizza preference when Bonnie called in orders. Just how much distance was she trying to put between her and the family she had left?

Her nose flares. “So, what? You gonna tell your friends? Give them more ammunition? You’ve always been their secret weapon, haven’t you? Bat your eyes and act all nice and sweet but deep down...you’re just like them.”

She blinks at the assertion. It’s not untrue, but it’s the first anyone’s said out loud. At least to her face. “I _was_ going to ask if you were okay, what, with your father running free, see if you needed someone to talk to. But I take it back. And, no. I never planned to tattle. Only a loose cannon would be so careless. And I’m no hothead.”

Caroline emerges from the restroom and curiously looks between the two girls before flouncing down the hall. Shifting the books in her arms, Bonnie gives Liv an unaffected smile then follows after her friend. She knows the twin glares a target at her back, but it doesn’t bother her one bit. “See you at group Friday!”

 

“You’re dumping me?”

Jeremy Gilbert experiences the seven stages of grief right in front of her eyes and it is more painful to watch than the slasher flick they just saw at the movie theater in the next town over. Unprompted, she mentioned _maybe thinking about taking a break_ to which he reacted by pulling the car over on the side of the dark highway just on the outskirts of Mystic Falls. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No! _No._ It’s just—I’m about to go off to college and…” she sighs wearily. Never being the one to shy from confrontation doesn’t mean she likes it. “You should be with a girl who really likes you.”

Rotated in his seat to face her, he blinks then his frown falls into a mask of sunken despair. “I thought you liked me.”

“I do...like a brother. Or a distant cousin? I just don’t feel that thing I thought I was supposed to feel. I don’t feel it with you.”

His lips form a thin line, brown eyes shuttering closed. “What about prom?”

“What about it?” She raises her eyebrows. “You never asked me.”

“I was getting around to it.” He pouts, another reminder of how young he is. She says his name in a soothing way, but he’s having none of it. “Let’s just forget it. I’ve got a lot of homework to do.”

It’s Saturday night. She knows the last thing he’s going to do is math homework, but she buttons her lips all the same. No need in making their awkward ride back home any worse.

Staring out the windshield, he grimaces then unbuckles his seatbelt and mumbles something about _going to take a whizz._ Before she can say anything, he disappears into the woodline. She huffs sitting back in her seat. Katerina’s going to be so pissed at her.

Minutes tick by, the digital numbers flickering from the clock on the dashboard. It occurs to her that maybe he’s not relieving himself. Maybe he’s crying, releasing his emotional ties to her. He’s always been a sensitive boy and she likes that about him. Though, the longer he’s gone the more worry gnaws at her insides.

Her gut tells her to stay in the car, but she foolishly ignores it to venture into the treeline. Calling out his name yields nothing but the night air whipping around her as she stumbles through the lowly lit forest.

Wind whistles past and a shadow bobs at the edges of her line of sight. Turning to her left, she finds Jeremy. With a rope tied around his bent neck, he dangles from a tree. Her stomach drops watching his body sway in the breeze. Canted at an odd angle, his jaw hangs dislocated from his skull like it wants to drop at her feet.

She should be screaming. Her mouth should be open and a distressed cry should be happening, she thinks but she can’t conjure it. For some reason her mother’s windchimes come to mind and the strange thought makes her break out in goosebumps. Her gaze travels from where the rope chokes him up to the oak tree branch its been thrown over and then down to where it’s wrapped around the tree trunk.

A metal hook juts out of the bark.

  


It’s early, early Sunday morning when Bonnie finally makes it home. She had to wave down a passing car to get help, which involved Sheriff Forbes arriving to investigate. The deputies weren’t too keen on treating Bonnie like the innocent bystander she was, but Caroline’s mom vouched. _This girl doesn’t have a mean bone in her body_ , she’d said and wrapped her in a blanket.

She was escorted to the sheriff’s station to record her statement and her father arrived to pick her up. As they walked out to the car, he broke the news: Abby was gone. Hightailed it out of Mystic Falls on a bus to heaven knew where. Already numb from finding Jeremy, she didn’t really have much of a response. _She left her car,_ he’d handed her a ring of keys with a tattered rabbit’s foot. Perhaps he thought she would swallow her mother’s abandonment easier if she got a free car out of it.

She rushes through the house and into her room, slams the door, and locks the world away. Exhaling heavily, she rests her forehead against the door and squeezes her eyes shut. Suddenly, a hand covers her mouth, someone sandwiching her between their body and the door. There are lips at her ear. “Don’t scream.”

A yelp catches in her throat when she belatedly recognizes the voice. She spins around to see Kai’s smirking face and shoves him away. The window beside her bed swings with the light breeze. He had the decency to remove his shoes, though he has her robe wrapped around his work clothes.

“What did you do?”

His hand goes to his heart as he feigns innocence. “Me?” Then he drops the ruse, spins and sprawls across her mattress. Her pom-poms are on her pillow and he takes them and shakes them at her. The metallic, tinsel-like plastic shimmers in the yellow light of her desk lamp. “I did you a favor. You didn’t really like that kid.”

Her stomach clenches. “You didn’t have to _kill_ him. Jeremy never hurt a fly.”

He sits up, his face turning somber. “So, you’re saying I should go after someone who deserves it next time?”

“Next time? Kai…”

He waves, urging her to come sit beside him. Exhausted, she drops like a sack of bricks on her bed and he throws his arm around her shoulder. He turns his head and leans in until his lips ghost the shell of her ear. “I have to tell you something, but you can’t get mad.”

“You don’t get to decide how I react.”

“That’s fair. Just...don’t yell.”

“Okay.” She shivers at his closeness, the warm doughy scent of toasted bread filling her nose. With his other hand, he traces her jawline, tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, and then pulls back bloodied knuckles.

“My dad found me. And I killed him, too.”

“How?”

“Doesn’t matter. But it hurt and it was messy.”

“The cops think your father killed Jeremy. You left the hook there.”

“Precisely. And they’re going to keep looking for him.”

She meets his gaze. She sees a sheen of intrigue in his eyes. It reminds her of how Jeremy looked at her. Only with Kai, she likes it. “What if they find him?”

“They won’t.” He seems sure. “Does that scare you?”

“Do I look scared?”

“You’re shaking.”

“Of course I am. I just discovered my dead boyfriend’s body.”

“Want a new one? A body or a boyfriend, your pick.” She should find it troubling that they can flirt like this after a murder. “I promise I washed my hands.”

“I bet you say that to all the girls.”

“What other girls?” His lips gently swipe against hers and when she doesn’t flinch he applies more pressure. The arm around her shoulder angles her towards him and she lets him. Melting into the kiss, she leans into his embrace.

Her skin tingles with that spark she never felt with Jeremy. Pulling back abruptly, her hand moves to rest against his chest. “We shouldn’t. I… Jer... A-And my mom just left us. Like, packed her one suitcase and twenty three skidoo’d.” She probably won’t even show up for graduation, she thinks ruefully.

With blown out pupils ringed in the tiniest sliver of grey, he meets her apprehensive gaze. “You wanna talk about it? Believe it or not, I’m a fantastic listener. Got a memory like an elephant.”

“No.” She shakes her head, her throat tightening with emotion. The firm grip separating them slackens, her hand falling to his thigh. Her robe is tied snugly around his middle, but she’d bet her allowance he’s hard. Tentatively, her hand drifts under the plush material and grazes over the swollen mound hidden by his jeans. His breathing catches, wide eyes staring as she sizes him up through tough denim. “You look ridiculous in that robe.”

“Then help me take it off.”

She has no reservations when he dips and kisses her a second time.

 

The sanctuary of the church is packed with the residents of Mystic Falls. Pastor Young leads the congregation through a sombering “Amazing Grace”, but all Bonnie can focus on is the giant poster of Jeremy Gilbert staring back at her. Forget that his cold body lays a handful of yards away in an open casket. No, that wry smirk of his full lips and warm chocolate eyes remain on her throughout the entire service.

Caroline, who sits in the pew behind her, has to poke her in the neck a few times when she doesn’t stand up fast enough for the musical selections. Elena is compassionate, often pointing out measures in her hymnal for Bonnie to follow along. Katerina is less so, shooting the younger girl glares that broadcast how little she appreciates the _girlfriend_ of her deceased first cousin sitting in the front row with the family.

The older Petrova warms when it comes time for the burial. As they cross the cemetery grounds,  Katerina shoves Elena to the side to loop her elbow with Bonnie’s. The rebuffed twin glares at the back of the head of cascading curls. Caroline’s already got her other arm, so the lone girl is left to huff and sulk as she follows the other three to the pit in the ground.

After another hour of wails and sniffles and reassuring squeezes, the dwindling party retires to the Petrova house where the kitchen counter is already littered with casserole dishes. Bonnie’s finally able to untangle herself from the twins, who sit sandwiched between their parents, Isobel and John, and their aunt Miranda and uncle Grayson. Aunt Jenna took off with her boyfriend during the burial and no one’s seen her since. Those who didn’t get the chance to share their sympathies before the funeral line up to do it now, but Bonnie doesn’t care until a familiar albeit unexpected figure approaches the grieving family.

“My condolences. My deepest sympathies. You’re all in our thoughts and prayers,” he says as he moves from person to person. When Kai gets to Katerina, his hands grasp hers insistently. “I know he was your family, but Mystic Falls losing a Gilbert feels like a loss for all of us.”

The twin glowers at the young man, and right then Bonnie yanks him away from the sisters.  They move through mourners toward the living room situated beside the kitchen, and she doesn’t drop his hand until they’re at the back doors. “What are you doing here?”

“I keep forgetting there’s two of them,” he offhandedly remarks. They both glance over at the girls in question.

“El’s not nearly as bad as Kat.”

“You sure? Every camel has a back that can break.” Then his face lights up.

“No,” is her immediate answer. “You are enjoying this too much.”

He tilts his head. “Should I not be?”

“No, absolutely not. Showing up at the funeral takes a lot of guts.”

“This is the repass. Besides, I wanted to see you. Wipe away any tears you might shed for the golden boy like a good new beau would.” His thumb grazes her cheek, and she swats him off.

“It was a very moving service. And I told you about that b word.”

Unaffected, his fingers go for one of the giant buttons grasping together the middle of her stiff, navy linen dress from her chest to her ankles. “Which one? I mean, there are so many. Beau, boyfriend, break, body, Bonnie…” He pokes a button with each word, the fifth pressing into her navel. “Is it too much to ask that you be a bit more specific?”

With a narrowed gaze, she points at him as she backs away. She mouths _we will talk later_ to which Kai pouts and mimes a heart in front of his chest. His hand moves to the left side of his chest and he pats it a few times to the rhythm of a beating heart.

A little while later, she has a cigarette pinched between her lips while leaning against the white siding of the house. Her friends encroach on the one bit of peace and quiet she found. Katerina starts in on her first. “Why are you hanging out with the pizza boy so much?”

She hums. “He has a crush and he’s funny. Plus, he’s nice to talk to.”

“Not to mention look at,” Caroline croons. Three pairs of expectant eyes turn to her. She shrugs. “I’m blonde, not blind.”

“Regardless. He’s a townie.”

“So is Damon.”

“He’s different,” she snaps. “I just can’t help but wonder… Don’t you think you can do better?”

“What, like Jeremy?” Katerina’s jaw drops while Elena’s watery eyes widen. “Come on. God rest his soul, but it’s not like we really liked each other.”

“He adored you,” the quiet twin perks up, crossing herself like a good catholic. “And now he’s dead.”

“I was a senior girl who could help him with his SAT study prep and I let him feel me up a couple of times. There were never going to be any wedding bells.”

“Not with the pizza boy lurking around, huh?” Katerina squints suspiciously. “How long have you two been talking?”

“I dunno, once a week since the beginning of the school year? He’s the delivery guy for our study group every Friday. You spat at him a few weeks ago.”

“Oh, I know. I’m just trying to put together why you’re so keen on him.”

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t be.”

“He’s a townie,” Elena blindly parrots.

“So was your dad when your mom met him. What’s the big deal?”

“There’s a difference between your precious pizza boy and our father, who basically _owns_ this town.”

“Okay,” Bonnie nods, conceding to the fact that she will not win this round. She sucks on her cigarette and exhales upward. “Whatever you say, Kat.”

“You’re going to stop talking to him.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“Excuse me?”

Bonnie steps closer to the girl in the middle. “No. You don’t own _me_.”

The double entendre in her words don’t go unnoticed. Their audience of two waits with bated breath for the Petrova’s response. “Keep telling yourself that, Bonnie Bear.”

The insinuation guts in a way nothing else can. Sneering, she flicks her lit cigarette at Katerina’s red kitten heels and walks away and up the steps leading to the house. There’s a scuffle, like Caroline and Elena are holding Katerina back, before a wad of spit sails through the air and lands on the glass of the sliding door just to the right of Bonnie’s hand.

 

She expects to barge right in and dive straight into her rant. And his sheets. What she doesn’t expect is the graying woman in a wheelchair answering the door. Bonnie’s anger flags as her words fail. “Hi, Ms. P—Laughlin.”

“Hello, dear. Come on in. And, please, call me Joyce.” She backs away from the door and pivots to the side to allow Bonnie inside. There’s a crochet needle in her lap tucked into baby pink yarn.

“Thanks. Ms. Joyce.”

The older woman’s smile is kind before she rolls herself to the cleared space beside the couch. Some daytime soap opera plays across the television screen. “Kai’s in the back. Straight down the hall to the end.”

The hallway is long but suffocating as she moves through the house. At home, family portraits and pictures of relatives line the walls. Here, crucifixes and paintings of mountains decorate the otherwise bare pea soup green walls. The door at the end is cracked and she pushes it open to reveal a wood paneled bedroom covered in posters of rock bands. The room is empty, but then she feels a presence behind her and turns to meet Kai’s confused expression.

“Hey.” He yanks the tie from his collar and tosses it toward the hamper. He misses by a yard but that doesn’t seem to bother him. She can’t tell what he’s thinking. Is he surprised she’s here in his house, that she knows where he lives, too? “What’s wrong?”

“I have a back that needs breaking.”

His shock dies away replaced by a piquing intrigue, and he moves around her. “...is that a euphemism or a request?”

Her eyes slide to the bed beside him. The sheets and cover are rumpled but it’s the same size as her own bed, and damn does he look good in a suit. She cocks her head to the side. “Both.”

Kai’s all over her in moments, striding across the room and capturing her eager mouth. His hands, never resting in just one place, rove her body. Pushing off her sweater, he peppers the slope of her neck and shoulder with kisses and bites.

“Your mom…”

“Is deaf in one ear and immersed in her soaps. Now, tell me who’s got you riled up so I can thank them before I strangle them.”

Bonnie groans in frustration which turns into a moan when Kai’s at her neck again. “She, she’s like a shark sniffing the water for blood. Care is terrified of her, El is riddled with insecurities—most of them just bullshit Kat threw at her to see what would stick. I’m the only one she’s ever treated like an equal and now she think she’s found my weakness.”

“Weakness being…?” he murmurs against her heated skin.

“You.”

Lost in thought, he pulls back and searches her face for a moment. The longer he’s silent, the more she thinks she said something wrong. His grey irises seem to glow until he finally gulps, his adam’s apple bobbing. “Bonnie, it would be an honor and a privilege to kill your best friend.”

“No. It can’t be you,” she immediately shuts him down. Poking his lip out in a pout, he whines, sinks to his knees, and wraps his arms around her knees. His cheek presses to the flat of her stomach. “We are too close to this, Kai. It needs to be someone...closer.”

He rears his head back to gaze up at her. “How do you know you’re not cutting the head off a snake only to have three more grow back?”

“I don’t. But can you think of a better alternative?”

“It’s devious, even for you.” His hands glide up the backs of her legs under the hem of her long dress and over the swell of her ass. Fingers grip her panties, which he pulls down unencumbered. “You should really let me do this for you.”

“Is that a euphemism or a request?”

He gathers up the fabric and lifts her dress over his head to seal his lips to her bare cunt.

 

“You told your mom about me?” She turns her head as it rests on his bicep and meets his waiting gaze. “She knew I came here looking for you. Didn’t even have to guess which kid I wanted.”

“Is that weird for you?”

“No. Parents love me. Is it for you?”

“Nah, I have my way with lots of girls while my mom watches The Young and the Restless in the living room all the time.”

“She’s actually watching The Bold and the Beautiful.”

“Touché.” He brushes hair from her damp temple then presses a kiss to the spot. His tongue darts out to lick the salt from his lips. “I like you, Bonnie.”

“You better.” She squirms under his acute attention. “I don’t conspire to off my best friend with just anyone.”

From the curl of his upper lip, she thinks he’s about to make another quip for her to riff off, but his expression is overtaken by emotion. “Christ, you’re amazing.” He cups her face and moves in for another kiss.

Their hands intertwine, her nails grazing against his purple and blue knuckles. Knuckles he used to break Jeremy’s jaw. She pulls back and rest her chin on his chest, candied eyes peering up at him. “What were you like in high school?”

“Played baseball. Got a perfect SAT score. Got into some really good colleges. My teachers used to say I was _too smart for my own good._ Didn’t have a lot of friends.”

“Why? Did you end up killing them?”

“I never let anyone close for them to bug me enough to want to.”

“Was Jeremy...?” He nods. “What was it like for you?”

His brows knit together. “You know how horrible you feel when you have a stomach virus? Like, you’ve never been sicker and you don’t know if you’ll ever be well again. And then how you feel invincible when you’re not sick anymore, but it’s always in the back of your mind that it could happen again? You’ll always have that virus.

“It felt that that.”

She should be worried. She tells herself this is dangerous, he’s dangerous, but then again so is she. Where she should feel guilt and remorse over Jeremy is relief. Imagining a world without Katerina Petrova fills her with peace. As if she’s on the precipice of freedom and all she needs is for Kai to give her a push.

“Hey,” Kai breaks her out of her thoughts. “I want you to have something.”

He sits up, steps into his boxers, and goes to the closet. He yanks at a hanger towards the back and returns to her with a heap of red and black material. She unfolds it and recognizes the felt M emblem on the left side. It’s a Mystic Falls varsity letterman’s jacket.

The feel of the black leather sleeves and the red wool tugs at her gut. A sense of unearned nostalgia, like it’s all coming to an end and she hasn’t quite had the typical high school experience because she’s been stuck under her friends’ thumb. Sure, they party and skip class and live like they’ll never die, but it’s not how Bonnie wishes it was.

She could’ve made the varsity cheerleading squad with Caroline. She could be unabashedly excited for prom. She could talk to other classmates and not feel like she’s having a dalliance. In another life, she and Kai go to high school together and they don’t kill anyone and they worst they have to contend with is what kind of corsage he’s supposed to get her for Prom.

Smiling to herself, she wraps the jacket around her shoulders and sticks her arms into the big sleeves. She has to look like the Michelin man, but it smells like Kai. “By Monday, everyone will know I’ve been excommunicated from the Church of Petrova.”

“Then let’s get to sinnin’!”


	2. Chapter 2

dead girl walking

ii/ii

 

A gift wrapped bag of spices, dried beans, and a list of instructions are anonymously left on Elena’s desk in homeroom. It’s anyone’s guess whose handwriting it is, but it’s a traditional Bulgarian soup recipe.

_I noticed your sister’s been feeling a little under the weather, so maybe this will cheer her up. Just add chicken!_

It was Kai’s idea to address one twin when the gesture is really for the other, but the note is all Bonnie. She’s an excellent forger. By the looks of it, it could be any one of Katerina’s many secret admirers and Elena says as much. She juts the gift out and Bonnie watches from across the hall shielded by her locker door.

Caroline watches her watch the twins. It’s been three days since Katerina so much as spat in Bonnie’s direction. Seriously. Wednesday during lunch she walked to her mom’s car to find her windshield covered in spit. Probably not all from the Petrova. If Bonnie knows the girl like she thinks she does, Katerina most likely enlisted the football team for this task. No one was around when she discovered the scene, but she felt watched nonetheless.

She drove straight to the pizzeria. She refused to shed a single tear but was shaken still. Snatching his polo off over his head, Kai met her outside. His manager Vicki fired him without warning or explanation, just some bullshit about a call from the owner, but seeing Bonnie’s crestfallen face distracted him. After listening to her tale, he grabbed her by the neck, tugged gently at her ears under her curtain of waves to bring her forehead to his. “I could just blow up the whole damn school.”

She knows better than to goad him but she couldn’t help herself. “You’d do that? For little ol’ me?”

“Anything.”

She shook her head, their noses rubbing. “We stick to the plan.”

He grimaced. “You can endure it for that long?”

She moved to pull back and he lets her, loosening his grip. Her hands remained on his waist while he rubbed her upper arms like she had the chills. “What’s a few more days?”

Caroline is the only girl who will talk to her. Elena fridged her out, which was to be expected. But Care, they were next door neighbors once upon a time before her parents got divorced. Her loyalty runs deeper than her fear.

“She’ll come around." The cheerleader runs her hand over the sleeve of the varsity jacket Bonnie's taken to wearing. She hasn't asked outright but she knows it's not Jeremy's. He was an art nerd. "She’s miserable without you. I think she secretly likes how you call her out on her bullshit.”

Bonnie’s mouth twitches like she wants to smile because that’s how she should react. The somber and wistful expression of a girl who just hates fighting with her best friend. “Yeah, maybe.” She shuts her locker, steals a parting glance at the twins, then walks to her next class.

The recipe says three days. Make a small bowl of soup for three days to cure the head cold Katerina seems to have. She is always _sniffling_ after all. Bonnie has three days left of the Petrova and honestly it makes her giddy.

The day after she takes home the soup, Bonnie finds Katerina in the girls’ restroom hugging a toilet like a life-vest. The latch on the door isn’t locked, so she pushes it open. She’s used to the sound of someone emptying their stomach, but it’s not the caf’s meatloaf that has her doubled over. There’s a bowl full of chunky blood, Katerina’s straight teeth stained red.

That night the Petrova twin ends up in the hospital. They can’t seem to find out what’s wrong with her exactly. They give her meds for the stomach pain and send her home on a soft food diet.

The next morning, she doesn’t stir. The ambulance driving past her house wakes Bonnie. The cold hollow of realization sits in her gut as she walks through the halls with students spreading the news. It’s shocking and sad and _what a waste_ and _oh my god, do you think it was the same guy who killed Jeremy? Maybe_ he _poisoned her._

Elena doesn’t show her face for the rest of the week and that should make Bonnie happy. Caroline certainly doesn’t hesitate to dive into the cafeteria’s country fried steak, which is actually a slab of breaded chicken, and mash potatoes _with gravy_ without her obligatory trip to the restroom afterwards.

Kai’s like a kid in a candy store, showering her with praise and kisses. He’s so proud of her. It was her idea-to kill Katerina, to poison her, to have her own twin sister hand her the blade in which she killed herself. All Bonnie can feel is numb, the image of Katerina’s pale and desperate face looking up at her. The desire to ask for help on the tip of her tongue but pride too strong for her to say it. She was selfish like that.

  
  
  


If Jeremy’s funeral brought out the whole town, Katerina’s brought out three counties worth of mourners. Even in death, the Petrova is a mythic bitch and that rubs Bonnie the wrong way. Elena gives a glowing eulogy for the twin she loathed. Many of the people the girl bullied give really saccharine soundbites to the news crews that show up. Though they yelled for Bonnie’s take, she avoids the cameras.

Standing outside the church, Bonnie glares off into the distance at nothing in particular. She crushes her cigarette butt under the toe of her shoe. Someone approaches from behind and wraps their arms around her waist. She sighs but can’t quite relax in the embrace. A foul disposition overtook her during the maudlin service and she had to keep a tight grip on Kai’s hand to keep from walking out of the church. “She’s more popular than ever.”

Kai nuzzles his face into her neck and hums. “Does it matter?”

At the query, she cants her head in his direction.

“You wanted to get rid of her. Who cares about her _legacy?_  History always rewrites the truth. But the truth is Katerina Petrova is worms’ meat.”

“Actually…” She glances around to make sure no one else is in hearing distance. “They’re burying an empty coffin. Caroline said they’re still testing the contents of her stomach.”

He stiffens. “It was glass.”

“That’s not what Care says they found.”

Frowning, he turns Bonnie around in his arms. “I promise that’s the only thing I put in there.”

Her mouth ticks. She believes him or at least she wants to, but if he’s a dog on a leash at what point will he start to gnaw at the leather?

“Bonnie?”

The couple turn at the approach of Tyler Lockwood, Matt Donovan, and a few members of the football team. Kai's arms wrap protectively around her.

“What? Come to carry out Kat’s dying wish and spit in my face instead of on my car?”

“No.” Tyler shuffles, his head bowed. “We came to say we’re sorry.”

“Why?”

“I dunno. Katerina had everything and that still didn’t stop her from dying or being killed or whatever.”

Her glare at her old friend softens slightly.

“And it wasn’t everybody," Matt gruffly speaks up. "Most of us really like you, despite the smear campaign.”

“Gee, thanks. Make sure to vote for me for prom queen.” She rolls her eyes and turns into Kai’s chest.

“If that’s what it’ll take.” Her face contorts in confusion and she peeks over her shoulder at the mayor's son. “For your forgiveness.”

“I’m not Kat. You don’t have to grovel.”

“Exactly. You’re not _her._  You would have never pulled a stunt like that and you didn’t deserve it." Matt runs his fingers through his blond hair. "I mean, shit. We’re seniors. We’re too old for this kind of bullshit.”

“Really touching speech, guys. Pulitzer prize winning,” Kai snarks, but Bonnie places her hand to his chest and he backs down.

“Now that you mention it… No, I wouldn’t ask for something like covering someone’s car in phlegm, but there is something I will ask.”

  
  
  


A banging on the door jolts Bonnie from her sleep. She lifts her head from Kai’s chest as he rouses. “Wake up, dickhead!” Liv growls. Groaning, he shifts out of bed and heads for the door. Bonnie curls into the vacant warm spot.

“The _other_ dickhead,” she specifies and gestures through the small space to Bonnie. “One of your best friends forever and ever is on the phone for you. Dunno how she got our number or that she knew you were here, but she said it was important.”

Frowning, she tugs on Kai’s Megadeth shirt and stumbles out of bed. “Phonebook,” she mutters as she passes the siblings and picks up the phone laying on the kitchen counter. “El?”

“No, it’s Caroline. Bonnie, you will not believe this! El was _arrested_ last night. They did it late so no one in town would know, but my mom was there for the whole thing. Get this: that soup they think poisoned Kat was laced with cocaine. Drugs that El snuck into it. El killed Kat! Can you believe it?”

“I...I can’t." Her eyes flicker to the cuckoo clock on the wall. It's only six in the morning. "They’re sure?”

“She gave a whole confession! Said she stewed the soup but then Kat said it was left for her so El couldn’t have any. So she took some of Kat’s stash and mixed it in. I guess she didn’t mean for Kat to overdose, but the autopsy found stomach ulcers. Looks like her affinity for the white stuff wore down her and when she had the soup, it just..." An incredulous gasp sounds from the other end. “I just can’t believe El would do something like that. Actually, I can. I just figured she’d kill her straight out like Lizzie Borden or something.”

“I’m speechless. I have no words other than...wow.” She eyes Kai watching her from down the hallway. She holds up her hand, to which he shrugs and disappears deeper into his room.

“I thought about calling your house, but then I saw you leave the funeral with Kai and I didn’t want to get you in trouble in case…”

“Thanks, Care. I’ll deal with my dad later, but you’re sure? The soup was fine?”

“Well, El said their mom told them to throw it out in the first place. You know how Isobel is suspicious of anything from her home country, but Kat spitefully ate the whole thing. But, yeah, my mom says all the autopsy shows is cocaine and stomach ulcers. It’s like she was mainlining that stuff.”

“Jesus.”

“Mary and Joseph. See you at school?”

“Yeah, see you in a bit.”

Dazed, she hangs up the phone and returns to Kai’s room shutting the door softly. She pads across the carpet to the bed and eases herself onto the mattress. Straddling his hips, she lays atop him and places her ear to his chest, his heartbeat vibrating against her. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” she chokes out. “I just…” She sits upright and bites her lip. “You wanna be my date to prom?”

“Your friend called my house to talk to you about a school dance?”

“No. Caroline called to tell me that Elena laced Katerina’s soup with cocaine, which caused her to overdose. They arrested her last night for the _murder of her twin sister_.”

He sits up on his elbows. “You’re kidding.”

“Why would I kid?” Her smile grows and so does his.

Grinning like a kid in candy store, he wraps his arms around her waist and flips their positions. Her back presses into the mattress with him snug between her legs. “This is great! Right? This is a good thing?” Grey eyes search her face for any misgivings or doubt.

She nods. “For a moment, I thought it was me. Maybe I was the only one bothered by her and the way she treated people, the way she treated me. As if I blew it out of proportion and that maybe you and I, we did a bad thing. Maybe she was actually harmless. But it turns out it wasn’t just me!”

“Well, I could’ve told you that.” He dips to kiss her and she wraps herself around him, her legs around his waist and arms around his neck. “So, you’re okay now?”

“There’s only one thing left to do.” An eyebrow lifts like he’s anxiously waiting for the next name on the deadpool. “Go to prom with me.”

“I only have the one suit, but I can rent one,” he concedes through gritted teeth.

“How about you just worry about my corsage?”

He holds her gaze for a long moment but murmuring, “I worship you.” 

Before Bonnie can react, he moves down her body lifting the hem of the shirt of his she loves so much as he goes. Her stomach clenches as his nose skims her white cotton panties. Gulping, she groans. “I’m going to be late for school.”

“Psh, you’ll miss homeroom.”

“With you, I won’t make it in until lunch.”

His teeth teasingly pull at her waistband and he gives her a wolfish grin. “May as well skip the whole day then.”

  
  
  


“You like roses?” _Eh_ is her non-committal response. “Daisies? Sunflowers.”

“For a corsage?”

“I didn’t go to my senior prom. I wouldn’t have had a date if I had gone. I’m flying blind here, Bon.”

She smiles wistfully at the back of his head.  “I like lilies.”

“Did you know lilies are poisonous if ingested?” He looks over his shoulder and winks. “We had a cat die once because he hopped up on the table and made a snack out of a calla lily. Poor Roger.”

“Your cat’s name was Roger?”

“I didn’t name him,” he snorts.

The trees break to reveal a dilapidated manor. Much of the structure is eaten away by rot and mildew, but the damage clearly came for a fire. Late morning light illuminates what's left of the scorched black walls and exposed beams. She clings tight to Kai’s hand as he leads her through the old plantation house. “Watch your step.”

He said he had something to show her, and to say she’s a little apprehensive would be an understatement. He hasn’t given her any details, and the house is giving her the creeps for a number of reasons.

Toward the back of the house is an open area that might’ve been a kitchen once. In a wooden chair sits a disheveled man wrapped in rope. The close they get, the stronger the smell of excrement until Bonnie has to plug her nose with her fingertips. “Who is _that_?”

Kai guides her around the slumped figure, head lolling to one side. She’d think he was dead if not for the way he shivers in his tattered gray jumpsuit. The man with matted salt and pepper hair looks up with pleading dark eyes ringed in purple flesh. “Bonnie, I’d like you to meet daddy dearest.”

Her elbow connects with Kai’s ribs. “You couldn’t hose him down? Jesus…” Grimacing, she strides off to the edge of the room to a whole in the wall that used to be a window.

He comes up beside her and she flinches. Squinting, he wipes a tendril of hair from her forehead. “I never pegged you for the squeamish type.”

“I’m not,” she bitterly argues. “He smells like shit. Like, literal shit. I thought you said you killed him.”

He shrugs. “Little white lie. I thought about it, but then I figured he’d come in handy. And he has.”

She shakes her head and swallows against her nausea. “We’re done. It’s over.” Not sure what she means, he frowns, bites his tongue, and waits for her to speak again. “You got rid of Jeremy. Katerina’s gone. Put him out of his misery already.”

“There’s no one else you want to get back at?” he coaxes her, pulling her by the waist into his arms. Rolling her eyes to avoid looking at him, she vehemently shakes her head. “Guess it’s time we shot this horse in the face. Do you want to wait outside?”

She scowls at him and his response is to kiss her on the cheek before turning away. This is between Kai and his father, which she wants nothing to do with, so she leaves the kitchen and walks down the hallway toward the front room. Foyer? Away from the smell.

Hints of Kai’s mutterings float on the wind toward her. He’s taunting his father, and she can admit she doesn’t have the stomach for torture. It’s sadistic in a different way than having a problem and wanting it gone with haste. She tunes him out and rubs her arms wishing she’d worn a sweater for this hike.

Vague sounds of a struggle grow in volume and then there’s a whirl of motion as Joshua rushes at Bonnie. Furiously, he pushes her out of his way as he tries to escape. She goes to brace herself, but her forearm collides with the edge of a splintered beam and something cracks loudly. Bonnie yells in pain clutching her arm and drops to her knees before curling fetal on the grimy floor.

Skidding to a halt, Kai sweeps his manic gaze over her contorted form before he darts after his father to the front of the house. Another struggle ensues, the sound of dull thuds and objects whiffing air with missed blows. She sinks her teeth into her bottom lip and moans, tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes as the noises die away. A flock of black birds take flight overhead.

Moments or minutes later, someone turns her on her back and she whimpers at the movement. “Hey, hey,” Kai coos, fingers wiping at her tear streaked cheeks. He leans down and kisses the side of her face as she silently weeps. Assessing the damage, his hands move down her body. Her fingers are going numb and her throbbing arm feels _wrong,_  but she clenches her leaking eyes shut too afraid to look at the potentially grotesque sight.

“Bonnie, look at me. I need you to look at me.” Trembling with shock, she obeys. With a stricken expression, his eyes alternate between her arm and her face. He leans forward again, presses his mouth to her, and then tells her to lay very still. He grips her forearm near her wrist and by her elbow and before she realizes what he’s about to do he snaps her broken arm. Her cries echo against the still morning air.

  
  
  


She hisses then apologetically glances at Caroline in the mirror. The other girl smiles and keeps tugging the dress down. The zipper glides smoothly up and then she steps back and takes in the full image in front of her.

The Petrovas planned prom dress shopping during cheer practice, so while Bonnie went with Caroline to get her hot pink sequin and taffeta dress with material bunched at one shoulder and a hem that brushes her knees, she never saw what Bonnie picked. The straps are strings looping to a fitted, black satin bodice that tucks into a tulle and crinoline skirt. Bonnie runs her left hand over the slick material of the sweetheart neckline. “Do you like it?”

“You look like a black Madonna,” she beams.

“Is it too short?” Spinning, she checks the length in the mirror. Her behind feels covered by the dress’ slip, but barely. She’d hate to get on the dancefloor and find out only then that everyone can see her ass.

“Bonnie, it’s perfect. Your pizza boy is going to drop dead at the sight of you.” Bonnie hikes an eyebrow up at her friend’s reflection. “ _Kai_ ,” she amends. “God, I know his name. I just think it’s cute. You two are really sweet together.”

She reaches for her navy sling, which Caroline helps her fit over her shoulder. “I can’t believe they couldn’t wait until after prom to put you in a cast.”

“I’d rather my bones didn’t heal wrong. It’s fine.”

“You’re going to be prom queen! They could’ve made an exception.” She tightens the strap and pats Bonnie’s arm. “You sure you don’t want to lose this? It doesn’t really match.”

“Care, I don’t care.” She tilts her head. “Why are you so nervous?”

Her bottom lip quivers. “It’s just that...it’s always been the four of us. Now it’s just me and you. All my neuroses are focused on you now.”

“You want ‘em back?”

Soft blue eyes dart to the ceiling in thought. “No, not really.”

“Good.” Bonnie smiles then ducks her head like she’s got a secret. “Me neither.”

The doorbell rings and Caroline darts out of the bedroom. “Bonnie! You have a _delivery._ ”

In the front room stands Kai in a black suit, though he earnestly threatened to wear powder blue, and his scuffed combat boots. Present in his gaze is the adoration he’s always looked at her with magnified by pride. And open lust, as his eyes rake over her body in her dress.

She stops in front of the two and then elbows Caroline with her good arm. “He’s still standing,” she smirks.

“Only on the outside.”

“I, uh, I got your corsage.” In one hand he holds a plastic container with three blackish burgundy flowers pinned to a ribbon. “They’re blackstar calla lilies.”

She meets his knowing gaze and bites the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling too big. Her heels give her a solid three inches, so she doesn’t have to stretch too far to give him a kiss on the corner of his mouth. At the last second, he turns his head so their lips meet, and Caroline squeaks at the couple. “You’re going to smudge my lipstick.”

“That’s not all I’m going to do.”

“Okay, okay, lovebirds. I’m lactose intolerant and _my mom is in the other room_.”

He places an insistent hand to the small of her back, keeping her close. “You ready?"

She glances at her friend. "We’ll see you at the dance.”

“What? I thought you were coming to dinner with me and Tyler.”

“We’ve got something to take care of first.” The blonde’s eyebrow arches in a way that says _elaborate, please_. “Don’t worry about it. It’s fine. We’ll make it time for the prom court announcement.”

“You better. I want to lose with dignity. If they call your name and you’re not there, I can’t promise I won’t accept the honor on your behalf.”

“If you did, I wouldn’t be mad.”

  
  
  


While he digs, she reads the messages scribbled on her cast. Matt wrote _QUEEN B_ in all caps. Tyler, still filled with contrition, added a crown over the B. Caroline’s curly scrawl reads _bonded for life._ One night while Bonnie ate chili with Kai and his family, Liv unceremoniously yanked the cast across the table and wrote _LOSER_. Luke didn’t miss a beat, going to search for a red marker and drew a V over the S. Later in bed, Kai turned the V into a pizza.

“You sure I can’t give you a hand?”

“Har har,” he deadpans. His suit jacket and shirt lay across her lap, his letterman jacket draped over her shoulders. She doesn’t know how she can, but she feels like she should help in some way. He’s digging the grave all by himself while she sits there watching. It feels rude.

“Kai.” She moves to get up and he lifts and points the metal end of the shovel at her. His expression brooks no defiance. Covered in sweat, he digs a hole in the floor of the old plantation house. His lean body looks good in the fading daylight. She drops back down on the milk crate. “You’re going to have to shower before we go to the dance.”

The decaying old man lays a yard away from where Bonnie sits. The smell is nauseating, so she periodically holds her corsage to her face and breathes in the sweet fragrance of the lilies.

Climbing out of the shallow pit, Kai strides over and stabs the floor with the shovel, cracking a piece of tile and embedding itself in the soft earth. He rests his weight on the handle. “Any last words?”

Leering at the flat of his dewy abdomen and the trail of hair interrupted by his black suit pants and belt, she bites her lip. “You think I should get back at the football team for spitting on my car?”

The corner of Kai’s mouth lifts into a smirk. “Absolutely.”

She snorts. “Just toss him in and cover him up. And hurry. I’m hungry.”

He leans forward and kisses her forehead. Then he hands her the shovel and turns to heft the deadweight to its final resting place. When he comes back for the shovel, he captures her lips in a lingering kiss that warms her to the core. If it wouldn’t leave clues at the crime scene, she’d let him take her right here in the woods.

He goes back to his work of tossing dirt on his father while Bonnie pins his matching boutonniere to his suit jacket. If they miss the dance, she really wouldn’t mind. The ballot box was stuffed with votes for Caroline anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this fandom is going to bleed me for everything i've got i stg...


End file.
